US seeking MKO revival: Defense Minister

Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said the US is seeking revival of the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) which is declining.

Exclusively talking to IRNA, the minister criticized the US attempts to remove the MKO from the list

pf terrorist groups and organizations.

He stressed that the move indicated that Washington was not honest about its stand on statements regarding fighting terrorism.

He added the US has always had close relations with the MKO members and supported them.

The United States is a staunch supporter of terrorism, noted the Iranian defense minister.He then referred to the Zionist regime as the manifestation of state terrorism which is strongly backed by Washington.

On the other hand, Iranâ€™s Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi says the Islamic Republic has detailed knowledge of the United Statesâ€™ support for the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO).

â€œWe have currently accurate information that the United States and even some European countries provide the MKO with lots of equipment and facilities,â€ Moslehi said on Monday adding that the global arrogance supports the MKO only to keep it alive.

Referring to the US decision to remove the MKO from the State Departmentâ€™s blacklist of terrorist organizations, Moslehi added that the Islamic Republic has always considered the terrorist cell an agent of the global arrogance. â€ Wepredicted that the global arrogance will one day reveal its support for them [MKO] due to advantages it has taken of this group during the [Islamic] Revolution era,â€ he said.Members of the MKO, who have murdered over 17,000 Iranians since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, fled to Iraq in the 1980s, where they had the support of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and set up Camp Ashraf in the eastern province of Diyala near the Iranian border.